I am fairly new here. I am a little hesitant to post, but what the heck!

Maggie, is my 3 month old shepherd/rottweiller mix puppy. I have given her lots of toys to play with (balls, KONG, Nyla-bones,etc) but she discovered rawhide this weekend. We were at my sister's house (she has a gs too) and she discovered her dog's rawhide bone and took an immediate liking to it. I wasn't sure if she should have it so I distracted her with her toys. I was wondering at what age a puppy should be introduced to rawhide, it seems to me that I should wait. Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.

We have our 2nd vet appt this Saturday, so I will ask him too, but I wanted to get your comments as well!

I consulted my vet about rawhide because I had heard all the negative things about it as well. He told me that he has AT LEAST 5 dogs per year come in due to a blockage in their intestinal tract due to rawhide. His suggestion was nylabones; we also give marrow bones and knuckle bones.

All dogs LOVE rawhides, however, they are not good for them. I would not give your dog anymore, even though he does like them. These can get caught in their throats and choke to death and can cause diahhrea etc....

The best bone you can get for your dog is a raw marrow bone from your butcher. Search the archives in this forum, there is lots of good advice about chew toys and food.

thanks, well maybe I should stick to nyla-bones then, she seems very happy with them, but it could have been that the rawhide was "new" to her....my sister's dog doesn't seem to chew hers anymore, she just got bored with it!

of course, she will get real bone treats once in a while once she is older....

Nylabones are the best. Do you have a Kong? Another must have for puppies. Make sure that you can take the chew toys away without any growling etc. To ensure this, always take things away, wait a bit, and return it and say "good boy" I pretend that I am eating it and then return it

Trust me, I am doing this so far, no problems about protectiveness to her toys..I am also "interrupting" her while she is eating, and making her wait and sit until I tell her to go ahead..for some reason I can do this, however my sister (who lives with us) is still not able to do this without Maggie growling..... but we are trying..she learned to sit at a very early age and this week has mastered shake a paw...the "come" command is progressing along nicely..we are up to about 8-10 ft away....

Trust me, I am doing this so far, no problems about protectiveness to her toys..I am also "interrupting" her while she is eating, and making her wait and sit until I tell her to go ahead..for some reason I can do this, however my sister (who lives with us) is still not able to do this without Maggie growling..... but we are trying..she learned to sit at a very early age and this week has mastered shake a paw...the "come" command is progressing along nicely..we are up to about 8-10 ft away....

Another trick is to freeze the kong with the peanut butter in it overnight. Makes it harder to get to the good stuff. I stuff with cheerioes or any leftover non-fattening treats. Also, I put plain cooked oatmeal in it and freeze it, as well as plain yogurt.

she LOVES the Kong! So far, I have only given her treats and peanut butter in it....might try cheez whiz this weekend..like to see how see reacts, you never know anymore....

All the preservatives are EXTREMLY unhealthy for dogs (even for humans actually, but since we are much larger and have a more complex ability to break down foods they don’t kill us, as fast).

I am sure she would LOVE Cheez Whiz but there is NO nutrition value in Cheez Whiz, just sugar, salt, empty calories and preseritives. Remember, the nutritional needs of a dog are GREATLY different the humans.

I would suggest getting some QUALITY wet dog food (Solid Gold, Nutro Natural, Natural Balance) filling up a Kong and placing it in the freezer for a few hours. A “teaser” of natural peanut butter with no extra preservatives in the tip or at the large opening really gets our boys excited.

Whenever I am eating something totally unhealthily, McDonalds, Pizza Rolls etc and my boys are being as cute as they can in hopes of getting a bite I have to remind myself their life span is so (and cruelly) incredibly short compared to ours doing everything I can to make sure they stay healthy and live a long life is my duty. Diet is a HUGE part of that responsibility.

I think it is EXCELLENT you posted our question about rawhide. Honestly, I had no idea rawhide was so horrible until we got our boys and my wife read every single thing printed about dogs

that is when Maggie gets hers too..I usually have an english muffin with pbj in the morning and she knows that she gets pb then too, she is happily waiting for me to "stuff" the Kong with her tail wagging away!!

I have even started to close her in the cage while I am making my breakfast and she has no problem with that at all... I was the happiest mother when she went into her cage to sleep and play one day! I couldn't believe it (before this she tended to associate it with the time when mommy leaves me)....now when I can't find her, all I have to do is look in the cage and there she is lying down or playing with her toys!!

I use to pick up frozen bones,complete with marrow from the butcher at our local grocery store..Cujo would eat these frozen..or at least try too,too him forever just to thaw it..My vet agreed that raw bones are good for dogs,great for cleaning their teeth as well

Silver, have you ever thought of what they must put into those things to make them so white....

__________________
A dog is an endearing confidant who always listens and gives the best advise - which is to give no advise at all. A dog is one of the few constants a person can count on in an unpredictable, ever-changing world. Debanneball

I use to pick up frozen bones,complete with marrow from the butcher at our local grocery store..Cujo would eat these frozen..or at least try too,too him forever just to thaw it..My vet agreed that raw bones are good for dogs,great for cleaning their teeth as well

You bet raw bones rock!!! We give Diamond whatever she wants (in a beef bone that is - never pork or chicken - too nervous) and let her chew the big ones outside and the little ones inside (on a towel). She can't get enough of them!

She has the most amazing white teeth and beautiful gums. All from chewing bones!

__________________
"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." - Judy Garland

Go to the kong home page they have all kinds of different recipes for stuffing the kongs gives you lots of variety. Also remember never give them bones that have been cooked they splinter and can cause severe damage internally.

I read your post on Rawhide too late. Last night, I gave her a small rawhide bone and my poor girl had diarrhea. We were up til 2am cleaning up her mess in the living room. I swear never to give her one as long as she lives.

I'm not familiar with Kongs, I saw them at Wal-Mart last night. Do they make a lot of mess?

Kongs are great and you can stuff them and they keep them busy for hours especially when you are at work. go to kong.com they have all kinds of recipes for them. Rawhide once in a while are okay but not till Casey is much older. You would be better getting her a boda bone or a bone that is edible instead of rawhide. well sorry should have read above your post and saw what I wrote

__________________
Robin
A dog has so many friends because they wag their tails not their tongues.
R.I.P. Buddy 2002-2008 The best Mastiff ever.
Now owned by Clark the Crazy American Bulldog

When it come to giving rawhide, bones, KONG, Nylabones, or an other chew toy to your dog, I think it all depends on a couple of things.
What your dog is like?
How old your dog is?
And if the dog is supervised, or not?

I have an Aussie-Doodle named Jersey who is a very agressive chewer, and I have found what works best for him, when he is in his kennel is plain old rawhide.
I have given him a KONG, and Nylabones in the past, only to come home and find out that he has eaten them.

Jersey has never choked or been sick from eating rawhide, but he has been sick from eat KONGS, and Nylabones.

KONG, Nyla-bones are nice toys but Are Not Digestible.

Althought Rawhides maybe not be for every dog, I will not take the chance of giving Jersey anything that is not digestible if no one is home to supervise him.

Just want to put in my about rawhide. Last summer, Mac needed some extractions and a deep tooth cleaning. I picked up some special rawhide strips at the vet's office thinking they would help keep his mouth clean. They had an enzymatic coating that helps clean teeth. He never shown much interest in these and will lick them, carry them around for a while grunting and then "bury" them under a towel, rug or table. One night I gave him a large strip. I noticed he was actually chewing on this one which was odd. About thirty minutes later I heard him make an odd coughing noise. I immediately noticed the chew was gone. I grabbed him, pried open his mouth and saw the end of the chew strip in the back of his throat. I had no idea how he had eaten this thing so quickly. I reached in and could barely grab the end. I pulled the entire, limp slimy thing out of his throat. He almost choked on this and was swallowing it whole. If it had not choked him it would have certainly blocked his intestines. These are dangerous. I also don't like that the package tells me to wash my hands after handling. If I need to wash my hands after touching it, should my dog put it in his mouth?

They can cause dogs to choke to death. A friend of ours Bulldog choked to death on one about three years ago. At the shelter one of the dogs almost did, luckily enough one of the shelter workers happened to be walking by his kennel at the same time and managed to save him. Since then they have discontued their use as a treat.

Hi I also have a puppy called Maggie who is a pure GSD ! good choice on name there i am thinking!

We introduced raw hide chews to her when she was about 14 weeks, not intentionally but that is a different story! They keep her quiet for a while and are good for their teeth. I never let her have a chew which is any smaller than about 10 inches long and 2-3inches wide as they can be dangerous, i leave her with them if they are new and VERY well wrapped together, (some have tight seams some dont) Once she gets a piece off i am a big spoil sport and take it off her to chuck away! She LOVES her RHC!!

Hi I also have a puppy called Maggie who is a pure GSD ! good choice on name there i am thinking!

We introduced raw hide chews to her when she was about 14 weeks, not intentionally but that is a different story! They keep her quiet for a while and are good for their teeth. I never let her have a chew which is any smaller than about 10 inches long and 2-3inches wide as they can be dangerous, i leave her with them if they are new and VERY well wrapped together, (some have tight seams some dont) Once she gets a piece off i am a big spoil sport and take it off her to chuck away! She LOVES her RHC!!